Mornings can be stressful, especially if you're rushing to figure out what to wear and get out the door and have to deal with an overstuffed and messy closet. Experts agree that organizing your physical closet space with the help of organizers can help to ease feelings of emotional clutter and stress.
“Try to look at it as you’re setting yourself up for better success and saving time and money in the future,” says Rachel Rosenthal, professional organizer and founder of Rachel and Company.
The thought of organizing your closet may be overwhelming, especially if you don’t know where to start. “If you are unable to find the clothes you need, the clothes that fit you and the clothes that make you look and feel fabulous, it sets the tone for the day,” says Stacey Murray, professional organizer and owner of Organized Artistry. The tone isn’t going to be positive if you’re frustrated, overwhelmed and running late because of your disorganized closet, she says.
We spoke to three experts to get their advice on the best closet organizers. They also shared some organizing tips to help you get started.
SKIP AHEAD How we picked bestselling closet organizers on Amazon | Hangers | Over-the-door organizers | Closet organizer accessories | How to shop for closet organizers | How to make organizing more enjoyable
Related
How we picked bestselling closet organizers on Amazon
There are so many closet organizing products on the market, it can be hard to know what is the best. The experts we spoke to offered the following advice for the best products to kick off your closet organization project.
- Hangers: “When choosing hangers, it’s important to factor in how much clothing you’d like to have hanging, what type of garments they are, and how much actual hanging space you have in your closet,” says Murray. Our experts agree that it’s important to invest in a non-slip hanger so your hanging clothes won’t fall to the ground. Just relying on the free wire hangers from the dry cleaners can cause your fabric to disintegrate over time, according to Rosenthal.
- Over-the-door organizers: Don’t forget to utilize the actual closet doors themselves. “The back of a door is a great place to store things. You can have hooks going over the door, [or] you can have a whole rack,” says Rosenthal. Choosing the right over-the-door organizer depends on what you want to store, whether it’s shoes, handbags or jewelry.
- Closet organizer accessories: Along with hangers and over-the-door closet organizers, there are many other types of organizers that help streamline the process of clearing clutter from your closet. We also include top-rated shelf dividers, shoe racks and vacuum bags in the round-up below.
Bestselling closet organizers on Amazon
Using expert advice, we rounded up hangers, shelf dividers, over-the-door organizers and more to help with your closet organization project.
Hangers
Amazon Basics Slim Velvet Non-Slip Hangers
“These really streamline the look of your closet and make everything look more neat and tidy,” says Caroline Solomon, home organizing and lifestyle expert. Rosenthal also recommends these non-slip hangers. She’s a huge fan of velvet hangers in general, because they are slim and allow you to fit more clothes in your closet. Each hanger is 17.4 inches wide by 9.2 inches high and can hold clothing up to 10 pounds, according to Amazon.
Mawa Euro Series Non-Slip Space Saving Clothes Hangers
These hangers keep my loose sweaters from constantly falling on the floor every time I take them out of my closet. They are coated with a protective, anti-slip PVC coating, so they never lose their grip, which can be helpful for clothing items that have a wide neckline or cowl neck, according to the brand.
Granny Says 3-Shelf Hanging Closet Organizer
Hanging closet organizers, like this three-shelf fabric model, offer another way to utilize space in your closet. When it comes to buying hanging closet shelves, Murray recommends you “measure twice, buy once.” This three-shelf organizer fits two of my heavy wool winter sweaters on each shelf, and it looks much more organized than piling them in a big stack. The hanging shelf’s material is machine washable, and the shelf is collapsible for travel or saving space when it’s not being used, according to the brand.
Wiosi Purse Hangers
It can be easy for your purses and other bags to pile up quickly in your closet. Murray recommends these purse hangers for a better way to store your handbags. It can hold up to 66 pounds of material and also protects the natural shape of your bag handle, according to the brand.
Over-the-door organizers
Simple Houseware Over-The-Door Clothes Hanging Rod
Murray recommends this highly rated over-the-door hanging rod to create even more space in your closet. It’s 17.75 inches wide and 10 inches tall, and it can hold up to 20 pounds of items, according to the brand. The rod can fit over doors that are 1.75-inches thick, and Murray says it helps to create additional hanging space for any of the items that you want to see more easily or may not fit inside the closet.
Kaiferty Over-The-Door Hooks Organizer
This over-the-door organizer, recommended by Murrary, has 12 hooks and a mesh basket so you can stash all sorts of different things. It holds up to 55 pounds, and the rounded ends on the hooks prevent clothing from getting damaged or items from falling off, according to the brand. The rack also stays in a stable centered position thanks to its sticky hook, according to Kaiferty.
Amazon Basics Over-The-Door Hanging Shoe Organizer
The back of your closet door is a great place to hang shoes as well. With a 4.6-star average rating from over 27,010 reviews on Amazon, this shoe organizer has 24 mesh fabric pockets and is easy to hang up with three hooks (no additional assembly required), according to the brand.
Closet organizer accessories
Hmdivor Clear Acrylic Shelf Dividers
Many closets have one or two shelves above the clothing rod that can be a magnet for all kinds of clutter, like handbags, sweaters and other clothing items. Rosenthal recommends clear shelf dividers, including these that “slip right onto the actual shelf like a book divider.” With the help of the dividers, you can avoid stacking your clothing too high, she says. Each shelf divider is 8 inches high and 12 inches wide, and they fit shelves up to 0.75 inches thick, according to the brand.
Cozy Essential Store Vacuum Bags
NBC Select editor Mili Godio used these vacuum bags to store two queen-sized pillows. “The vacuum bags were super easy to use and were roomy enough to fit larger items. I’ll be using these a lot to store extra linens or bulky winter clothes,” she says. The vacuum bags are reusable and can fit larger items like winter coats that tend to take up a lot of space, according to the brand. It also includes a hand pump for suctioning out the air and a triple-seal turbo valve to make sure the bag is airtight, according to the brand.
Gonfoam 2-Tier Expandable Shoe Rack
With a 4.7-star average rating from over 2,485 ratings on Amazon, this shoe rack can fit in your bedroom or entry hall closet, or you can place it by your front door. Solomon recommends choosing an adjustable shoe rack so that it can work in many different sized closets. This adjustable, two-tier shoe rack holds up to 35 pounds (or roughly eight pairs of adult shoes) and expands up to 33.8 inches, according to the brand.
Related
How to shop for closet organizers
When shopping for closet organizers, here are a few factors that our experts said you should keep in mind.
- Size: It’s important to consider the size of your closet because this will determine whether you want to invest in organizers that maximize vertical or horizontal space, says Solomon. Before you start shopping, take measurements of your closet to ensure you don’t buy products that won’t fit.
- Function: “The whole point of organizing a closet is not to just make it look pretty — it’s so that it can function best,” says Rosenthal. Setting up a good organizational system will save you time so you won’t waste it searching for one pair of jeans in a messy closet. Rosenthal recommends thinking about what you wear on a daily basis to fully maximize the function of your closet organizers.
- Aesthetic: There are many organizational products to choose from, and it’s important to find the right balance between aesthetic and function. “Determine your needs before spending money on closet organizers that may be popular on social media and TV but may not necessarily work for you and your closet,” says Murray. If you are a visual learner, you might want to choose clear storage bins so you don’t forget about items. But if you prefer a streamlined look, you may prefer opaque storage. “Get clear on what kind of organizer you are first before zeroing in on your products,” says Solomon.
Expert advice on making closet organizing enjoyable
If you feel overwhelmed by organizing your closet, our experts recommend the following tips:
- Start small: Organizing your closet doesn’t have to be a chore. “It’s those short organizing sessions that over time will build your organizing muscles,” says Murray. You can start by organizing whatever is easiest for you, whether that’s sorting your socks by color or grouping your clothes together by season. Oftentimes, Rosenthal finds people giving up on their organizing goals because it’s too time-consuming, which is why she recommends starting in small chunks and even setting a timer.
- Put on music or a podcast: Our experts all agree that jamming out to your favorite song or listening to a podcast can make the time go by much faster when you’re organizing your closet.
- Organize with others: Rosenthal recommends having a friend, spouse or professional organizer help with the process — it can make it more fun and you can accomplish more with the extra hands. You could also do a clothing swap with a friend or even bring items to a consignment shop or donation store, she says. Having company while you’re organizing can make it feel like less of a chore and burden.
- Give yourself a reward: Whether it’s taking yourself out to dinner or doing some extra self-care with your organizing partners, Rosenthal suggests giving yourself a reward after decluttering your closet.
Meet our experts
At NBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. We also take steps to ensure all expert advice and recommendations are made independently and without undisclosed financial conflicts of interest.
- Rachel Rosenthal is a professional organizer and founder of Rachel and Company, a professional organizing firm.
- Stacey Agin Murray is a professional organizer and the owner of Organized Artistry in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.
- Caroline Solomon is a home organizing and lifestyle expert based in New York City.
Why trust NBC Select?
Carolyn Chun interviewed three professional organizers to determine the best ways to declutter your closet and help make closet organizing fit your personal closet needs and space.
Catch up on NBC Select’s in-depth coverage of personal finance, tech and tools, wellness and more, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok to stay up to date.
